Here’s an expanded version of my column from this morning’s paper, including a quote from LA defenseman Drew Doughty that played right into my theme . . .

SAN JOSE

The Summer of Shame began impressively Friday morning for the Sharks.

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No one hid as the locker cleanout took place. No one ducked the truth. No one rationalized. The players all understood that their playoff meltdown, blowing a 3-0 lead over the Los Angeles Kings and losing four straight, was indefensible.

“I think this is going to be with us a long time,” said Patrick Marleau.
“There’s nothing you can do to make this feel better,” said Logan Couture, when someone asked if a few months away from the game might ease the hurt.

The timetable is not official but foreseeable: Principal owner Hasso Plattner will allow general manager Doug Wilson to analyze the wreckage and assemble a blueprint for repair. That will take a few weeks. Plattner will then either accept Wilson’s plan or reject it and find a different general manager.

Let’s presume that Wilson keeps his job. It’s a reasonable thought, given his trusted relationship with Plattner and the track record of producing winning teams that fill up the seats at SAP Center from October through April. But moving ahead, Wilson must become more flexible and take a good, hard look at the organizational philosophy in terms of draft philosophy and free agent acquisitions.

What’s often unappreciated about Wilson is his fierce loyalty to the San Jose hockey community and San Jose hockey brand. He landed here in a trade during the Sharks’ first season in 1991-92. Although he had never previously set foot (or skate) in the city, Wilson developed an affection for the area. He made it his mission to elevate hockey awareness and raise expectations for the Sharks, first as a player and, since 1997, as a team executive.

In essence, you could say that Wilson has created the environment and fan base that now calls his judgment into question. That might be his greatest achievement. Now, in the Summer of Shame, he needs to have a huge offseason.

Wilson can start by taking a serious look at the formula in which he has believed for so long. Because something in the formula is not working. See if you sense a trend:

In 2006, the Sharks won six of their first seven playoff games — then lost four straight and were eliminated.

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 In 2007, the Sharks won seven of their first eight playoff games — then lost six of their next nine and were gone.
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In 2010, the Sharks won seven of their first nine playoff games — then lose five of their next six and said goodbye.
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In 2011, the Sharks again won seven of their first nine playoff games – then lost seven of their next nine and went home.

 In 2013, the Sharks won six of their first eight playoff games – then lost two of their next three to exit.
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And in 2014 . . . well, we all know what happened. A disturbing part of watching the four straight losses to LA was that the Sharks couldn’t even get to overtime in any of the four. They had not lost four straight games in regulation since January of 2010.

The above numbers tell a story. We all know that any team ousted from the playoffs is going to lose four games in its last series – but the teams with courage and spirit will manage to win two or three of their last seven games before being eliminated. The Sharks don’t follow that pattern. When they hit a few potholes, they fall off a cliff.

Why is that so? Drew Doughty, the Kings’ defenseman and center of dressing room gravity, may have offered a clue. In the aftermath of Game 7, he opined that LA general manager Dean Lombardi had purposely constructed the LA roster to fight back from adversity.

“We have guys who are so competitive, guys who want to win,” Doughty said. “That’s how Dean built this team. He built it with guys who were so competitive, guys who will do anything to win. I think that showed. We never gave up and came back hard.”

The Shark roster has some very good players. Does it possess enough anything-to-win guys?

No professional hockey player wants to lose. The Shark players may sincerely believe that they are maxing out their effort. But when future Hall of Fame defenseman Rob Blake served as the team’s captain, he said something interesting. Blake thought that the Sharks’ playoff problem existed not because their effort or commitment fell off in the postseason – but because all the other teams found an extra gear or two, while the Sharks did not raise their game to keep up.

Marleau and Joe Thornton are the names most often connected to that syndrome. The criticism is sometimes fair, sometimes not. This spring, you can’t avoid it. But let’s look at the bigger picture: When Wilson assembles the roster through trades and signings and the draft, it’s striking how so many spots are filled with the same type of player.

Want examples? The two rookies who ascended to the Sharks roster this season, Tomas Hertl and Matt Nieto, were both skilled, exciting and flashy players. Were they gritty competitors? Haven’t shown it yet. Last season’s top rookie, defenseman Matt Irwin, is also smooth and smart but not known for “jam.” Tommy Wingels is the only recent Sharks’ draftee to bring a dose of that element. (Andrew Desjardins was not drafted but signed as a minor league free agent.)

Result: Wilson has either traded for his most fiery players or sign them up as free agents – witness Raffi Torres and Mike Brown and Dan Boyle. Of the three, only Torres is the only one under contract for next season. (Boyle wants a multi-year deal at age 37, which is a non-starter for Wilson.)
In the months ahead, Wilson must be cruel and bold. If it means trading excellent skill for more superior anything-to-win grit, pull the trigger. If it means overpaying for free agents with that quality, bit the bullet. If it means eating the $5 million contract of Martin Havlat through the NHL’s amnesty program, Wilson must convince Plattner to do so.

Despite the words of Couture, the worst-playoff-exit-ever pain will dissipate by September. Shark fans are resilient and will come back to cheer next season if given reason to do so. There are strong indications that the Bay Area will play host to an outdoor game next winter — either at AT&T Park or the 49ers’ new Levis Stadium – which should also help rekindle enthusiasm.

But the Summer of Shame can’t be just about shame. It needs to be about an attitudinal franchise transformation.

I think you are confusing “anything-to-win grit” with the ability to keep the puck in the opponents’ zone and create chances.

Mike Brown is a borderline NHLer. The Sharks are consistently outshot and give up more shot attempts when he’s on the ice. He’s terrible.

Raffi Torres is an effective 3rd/4th line player because he puts points on the board, not because he goes out and hits everything in sight. In fact, you could argue he’s more effective when he’s not being “gritty” (and less in danger of another suspension). Torres is a good player to have because he has more goals per 60 minutes played over the past four seasons than guys like Marleau, Kopitar, Zach Parise, and Taylor Hall, to name a few.

Nieto and Hertl? C’mon. They were tied for 4th on the team in points this postseason. I don’t know how much more “gritty competitiveness” you want than that.

Irwin should’ve been in the lineup ahead of Stuart/Hannan before the Vlasic injury, especially because of his offensive and puck-moving abilities. You don’t get the puck out of your own zone and into your attacking zone with “grit” and “jam.”

Teams like the Blackhawks and Kings don’t win because of their “jam.” They win because they are elite possession teams who create chance after chance, line after line.

The Kings “grit” players – Greene, Regehr, Fraser – were mauled by the Sharks fast, skilled players this series, and it wasn’t close.

The Blackhawks’ grit player – Bollig – has played no more than eight minutes in each of the teams’ past five playoff games. How does that help anyone?

The Sharks were lucky to win Game 3 – it could’ve been a coin flip. They were unlucky to lose Game 4 – they out-chanced the Kings at 5v5 when the score was close. Then 1/3 of the way through game 5 they lost not only their best defenseman, but one of the best in the league. Imagine the Kings without Doughty, the Bruins without Chara, Habs without Subban. Despite no Vlasic, Games 6 and 7 were almost dead-heats. Quick stood on his head while the Sharks’ goalies didn’t. How much of that can you really attribute to grit?

Take a look at the Maple Leafs this season. That’s what you get with a coach and organization who value “gritty competitiveness” over “exciting and flashy.”

This forward group, minus Burish and Brown, was the best the Sharks have iced in recent memory. Part of the reason they were so good was the addition of Nieto and Hertl, and the ability to play Pavelski as a third-line center.

Their issue: Defense. Stuart and Hannan were awful this year, but the Sharks had no one behind them they trusted.

You want organizational changes that will effect the character of this team? Get rid of guys like Burish and Stuart and Hannan and Brown, who are black holes possession-wise, and fill those slots with as many skilled and flashy dudes as possible.

The “anything to win” attitude is not so much an attitude as it is the manifestation of ability. Of the skill necessary to continually out chance opponents. To trade future points for future penalty minutes is silly.

If anything, question McLellan’s personnel decisions this postseason:
Playing Pavelski up with Burns/Thornton while the Kings were destroying Sheppard as a third-line center.

Scratching Irwin in favor of waaay-over-the-hill Stuart and Hannan.

Scratching Kennedy (who was a very effective possession player when skating with Sheppard and Desjardins) and Havlat instead of Mike shouldn’t-be-in-the-NHL Brown.

I agree that buying out Havlat can be a wise decision. So long as they fill his (and Boyle’s) cap space with effective possession players, not more Brown’s and Burish’s.

Monterey Shark

Someone who can write on Purdy’s blog, gritty, yet satisfying.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

I have some agreements with you, and some disagreements with you. However, you’re writing to someone (Purdy) who knows less about hockey than your average basketball fan does. Just his assessment of Matt Nieto proves that. Nieto is an undersized forward who bangs with the big guys in the dirty areas, and is also a speed-burner. He is “gritty” (I’m getting tired of that term – it’s being used for freakin’ baseball players – what next? gritty golfers?), and if Matt isn’t gritty, I don’t know what grit is. Nieto is the anti-Torrey Mitchell, from everything I’ve seen. Just one example.

Your citing the Leafs was great, btw. I was at the Leafs game this year, they are awful, awful, awful.

Tom Danz

Good article Mark,
A couple of questions that I would love to ask the Sharks.
When your best Dman gets taken out of the game on a dirty hit why do you not respond?
Are you aware of the message the non response sent?
Given the history of the team in past similar situations has this team learned nothing?

To the coach:
It was clear to all that Torres could not sustain his level of play due to his knee injury not fully recovered yet you kept skating him. We saw this not so long ago when Danny Heatley was put on the ice with a pulled groin in the postseason as Shark.

Have you also learned nothing?

To DW

The formula for regular season play is NOT the same as postseason.
When will you learn this? How is that McGinn trade work out for you?

Tom Danz

So many flaws to this team. Terrible PP. Boyle was just too old tun run the PP this season and as much as I respect him as a player he must not be resigned.
One fact is the last three games the Sharks scored two goals. One by Irwin and one by Sheppard. All other forwards failed.
Burns was brought in as a Dman but was so bad he converted him to forward.
He is NOT with his contract based on how he plays this position.
The rest of the forwards including the face of the franchise (Logan) were terrible.
It was quite telling that team canada left him off the roster. I think we now see why.

e.fowle

The Sharks were getting shots on net at a rate of 67.6 shots per 60 minutes of power play time during the Kings series. That rate is still good for third-best among all playoff teams. Unfortunately, they only scored on 6.8% of their power play shots. That’s second-lowest among all playoff teams. Most other teams’ power play scoring percentages are currently up around 13%. That tells me the Sharks were doing everything they could to get shots on net successfully, but encountered a bit of bad luck, and some great goaltending, getting them all the way through.

No, Boyle isn’t the same old Boyle, and that was probably also a factor in the lack of power play goals. But the point remains, it’s difficult to judge a power play solely on the goals scored, because there is so much that factors into scoring a goal in the NHL. The Sharks were essentially the 3rd-best power play team during the playoffs, but were just unable to convert. More grit isn’t gonna change that.

Burns? Burns wasn’t a bad D-man. But Burns was also brought into the league as a forward, then converted to a D-man in Minnesota. When it became clear the Sharks’ forward depth was suspect, McLellan turned him into a heck of a power forward. Burns was a top-20 possession forward this season and was on pace for about 57 points in a full 82 game season. His cap hit is a bit high, I’ll grant you, but it was a contract he was given as a puck-moving defenseman, not a top-6 forward.

Couture wasn’t selected to Canada in part because they knew he’d be injured during the Olympics. Might as well free some space for a player who was healthy at the time. As for the Kings series, Couture was the Sharks’ best forward. His career shooting percentage is about 10-11%. In the playoffs this year that fell to 5.6%. Part of that, surely, is playing the Kings, and part of that is just due to dumb puck luck.

Also, Logan’s not the face of the franchise. The dude who wears the “C” is.

Tom Danz

You have to look deeper than number of shots on goal. The sharks PP post olympic break was terrible despite getting shots on goal. They jave a way of making many goalies look hot going all the way back to Hiller in the Ducks series years ago.

Burns was brought to the sharks as a Dman. He was a terrible D man. Based on what the sharks did they themselves admit that.

This was not bad luck, this is a soft team once again exposed for what they are. You cant go 0-15 in your PP based on bad luck and ANY goalie. You just cant do it.

You can shoot 100 shots at a goalie but if he has a good look and you are not defecting and screening you will come up empty.

No more excuses. This team is just gutless as constructed.

e.fowle

I look at shots on goal per 60 minutes of ice time as a barometer because there is a lot of luck involved in scoring goals in the NHL. But, typically, players (and teams) that shoot more have a better chance of scoring more goals.

That these shots get to the net (either the goalie makes a save or they go in) suggests the skater or team in question is doing a good job of getting pucks past defensemen and making the goalie make a save. Beyond that, I don’t know how you categorize how well a team operates its power play or offense, unless you’ve poured through hours of video to determine how many shots were screened, not off deflection, etc.

Over the past three seasons the Sharks 5v4 power play has looked like this:
62.2 shots/60 minutes
10.7% shooting percentage
6.66 goals for/60 minutes

This means this year’s power play, that was perceived to have a ton of problems, has been very consistent with the Sharks’ recent power plays, which have been lauded as being great.

2013-2014 playoffs:
68 shots/60
5.4 shooting %
3.64 goals for/60

In the playoffs, they put up even more shots on goal per minute of power play time, yet their shooting % and goals for per minute dropped significantly. You’re telling me that, with minimal personnel and coaching changes, the reason for the Sharks’ power play scoring drop off is because of “gutless” players – the same players who have been running this power play the past three seasons?

Sometimes goalies will stand on their heads, and sometimes power plays will score game after game, power play after power play. All you can really ask is that a team’s PP consistently generate shots on net. The more of that they do, the more likely it is they’ll score. The Sharks have been doing that consistently better than just about every other team in the league for years, with these exact players. But you’re saying there’s absolutely no bad luck involved when rates drop that precipitously over such a small sample size of games?

Burns has been an effective skater with the Sharks, period. Over the past three seasons, he has more points per 60 minutes of ice time than: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ryan Kesler, Dustin Brown, Mike Richards, Mikko Koivu, Ales Hemsky, etc.

In 2011-2012, when Burns played only defense. While he was on the ice, the Sharks allowed fewer shots against per 60 minutes than these guys’ respective teams did: Duncan Keith, Erik Karlsson, Keith Yandle, Dustin Byfuglien, Christian Ehrhoff.

If you shoot 100 shots on goal, as an average NHL forward, you’re likely to score about 10 goals. On odd-man rushes and passes from behind the net, goalies frequently have good looks at the puck without deflections and screens, yet teams score on those all the time. How would you explain that?

This team isn’t gutless. This team lost their best defenseman for almost 3 games, and didn’t have any depth behind him.

Their forward corps is probably the deepest in the league, minus Burish and Brown. Let Brown and Boyle walk, buy-out Burish and Stuart, see what the free agent and trade market brings for left-handed defensemen, and go from there.

Tom Danz

Gutless forwards. Someone needs to be willing to camp in front of the net and take all the punishment that comes with it in order to score in the playoffs. The sharks now are a speed and skill team and that works just fine in the regular season. You want proof of gutless. Stool takes out the Sharks best Dman (Vlassic) on a VERY dirty hit and the sharks do NOTHING. The elbow to the head is clearly seen on replay. Defenseless player targeted to the head by Stoll and no answer.

Gutless.

Ronn Sven

You are the new PP for the Sharks. Paradox Purdy

TheCardinalRules

Sorry but Wilson should have been cleaning out his locker too. Yes, he has built winning teams but he hasn’t built anything close to a CHAMPIONSHIP team.

Wilson’s blueprint of a bunch of nice, high-character guys sprinkled with a small number of tough guys. That formula works if you want to make the playoffs but it doesn’t work if you want to hoist a Stanley Cup.

The most telling sign of what’s wrong with the Sharks was Joe Thornton in the locker room after Game 7 say how he was “disappointed” When the guy with the C on his Sharks jersey isn’t fuming mad with himself – and his teammates – for one of the biggest chokes in history – the problem is at the core of the team.

This team has needed a major infusion of guts, passion, and toughness for years. Instead Wilson has sprinkled it around the edges while the middle remains soft and “disappointed” Time for a major house-cleaning that includes Thornton and Marleau at the top of the list of guys who need to go.